Legendary Boston Celtic Jo Jo White dead at 71

BOSTON — Basketball Hall of Famer Jo Jo White, a two-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and an Olympic gold medalist, has died. He was 71.

The Celtics announced his death Tuesday night. No cause was provided. White had battled brain cancer for a long time, including a 2010 surgery to remove a tumor, according to CBS Sports.

The team says it is “terribly saddened” by White’s passing, calling him a “champion and a gentleman; supremely talented and brilliant on the court, and endlessly gracious off of it.”

White was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, after a 12-year NBA career, the majority of which was spent with the Celtics, CBS Sports reports. White averaged 17.2 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds for his career, and helped lead Boston to NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. The seven-time All-Star was named the 1976 NBA Finals MVP, and in 1982 the Celtics retired his No. 10 jersey.

He still was working with the Celtics as a director of special projects at the time of his death.